Amazing Resources for the Stuck-at-Home: Distance Learning, Creative Expression, and More...

Many of us are facing new and unfamiliar challenges at home: working from home while keeping children on task with remote learning; supporting students who feel detached from their communities and academics; navigating the sheer frustration of being cooped up…day after day.

At City Smarts, we work hard to support our community holistically. Even amidst these circumstances, this has not changed. We’ve scoured the internet and curated a list of online resources that may help to support your family through this uncertain time. 

COMMUNICATION:

• We are all struggling with the day-to-day impacts of Covid-19, and it may be hard to explain this to kids. Cope with School NYC has information on how to talk to your kids about  the virus.

• If you or your kids are adjusting to Zoom for meetings or online learning this tutorial offers some great tips!

ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT AT HOME:

• Wide Open Schools provides an invaluable resource to help both educators and families create daily routines, engage in dynamic academic lessons, and enjoy fun creative and physical activities.

• Scholastic is offering enrichment activities for kids in K-6. All levels include different subjects,  including history, science,and reading. Interactive videos and projects will help keep kids focused and excited about learning. 

• Taking their name from the C.S. Lewis’s Oxford literary circle, the Inklings Book Contest offers young writers (grades 3-9) a chance to be published! The best part is that every child who submits something will receive real feedback. 

• If your child is learning a language, or shows interest in doing so, DuoLingo is great for practice. Kids can set goals for lessons, and earn rewards to unlock bonus lessons. 

• With everything going on, it’s great to engage in critical thinking activities. The NYT Learning Network offers writing prompts in response  to photos, articles, and interviews every week. 

• +Pool has fun, hands-on science experiments that require minimal materials. Kids can learn about water filtration, and the importance  of clean water. Check back regularly as they update their activities!

• Libby offers access to hundreds of thousands of books for all ages. Whether you’re  an avid reader yourself, or it’s a good time to start that family book club, there are tons of titles to choose from for wide audiences. 

• If you’re interested in some long term learning, Coursera offers free classes in subjects from business marketing to memoir writing. Weekly assignments and lessons keep you focused and on a schedule, with something fun to look forward to. 

• Last but not least, we’re offering small-group online courses for the SHSAT and high school admissions essay writing. We promise the same individualized, holistic approach that has always been our hallmark.

THE ARTS:

• With many museums and cultural centers being closed, consider Virtual Field trips. Your kids can visit museums, zoos, and international destinations. 

• The NYTimes compiled some story-time and and drawing tutorial videos by authors you may know and love. 

• For our visual learners and film buffs out there, the New York Times Film Club is a great tool. Every 10 minute film comes with prompts for writing and discussion. They even offer a special film club journal to help kids structure their thoughts. This could be a fun and engaging family activity!

• If breaking out in song would cheer you up, Playbill has a list of musicals you can stream online. They’re also offering TV show and documentary recommendations along the same theme for those of us who are missing Broadway a little extra right now.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES:

• If your child is a budding yogi, this blog lists tons of different youtube channels with recorded sessions. Incorporating music, meditation, and strength building. There is a practice for everyone here. 

• For a more intense workout, Church Street Boxing is streaming classes live on its Instagram account (@churchstreetboxinggym). Trainers will coach you through footwork, punches and conditioning exercises. 

• To connect to your inner gymnast, Gotham Gymnastics is streaming an assortment of its Quaranteam classes on Instagram (@gothamgymnastics). The free sessions include strength and conditioning, injury prevention and stretching. Find the schedule here.

• Another yoga option is hosted on You Tube by Amanda Kerpius, a yoga instructor and massage therapist from Brooklyn. She’s posting daily videos focused on 3 categories: advanced power vinyasa yogis, long-distance runners, and people experiencing anxiety or insomnia.

• For circuit training, Charlee Atkins streams free workouts on her Instagram account (@charleeatkins). Ms. Atkins says her workouts are designed for the “at-home athlete,” using body weight or minimal equipment, such as chairs, bands or small dumbbells.

• And finally, some easy and helpful techniques to integrate into your home-bound daily activities form the NYT.

7th Grade Parents: Navigating Uncertainty in High School Admissions

The high school admissions process is, for right now at least, moving along as scheduled. Students should expect to test for public and private high schools in the fall, and to prepare admissions portfolios as usual. But we wanted to give you some updates to help you plan ahead and stay stress-free in a most stressful time.

Expect Spring Cancellations: Tests that most 7th grade students take in the spring will likely be cancelled. As we’re sure you’ve heard, the state and federal governments have cancelled all public elementary and middle school exams for the remainder of the school year (NYS Common Core exams). Aside from a few private schools that gave students compulsory grade-level assessments very early in the year (Williamsburg Northside, for instance) no applicants for public high schools will be relying on 7th grade standardized test scores for admissions. There is talk of hosting some kind of exams for public school students in the fall, but that is at a very preliminary stage.

Grades, Grades, Grades: All of this simply puts more emphasis on grades (ELA and Math, specifically).

There also won’t be any spring tours, and now more than ever it’s valuable to check in with parents of students at schools you’re interested in learning more about. It’s through engaged parents that the best information can be obtained. Tours, as valuable as they are, are nothing compared to direct parent-to-parent feedback. We work with parents at a number of the city’s best public and private high schools. Please reach out to us if you’d like to hear some insights into particular schools you’re considering.

Keeping Things In Context: We’re encouraging families to keep the upcoming test season in context: testing is not the most important thing in the world. The goal of the admissions process is about preparation, not overwhelming anxiety. This year more than ever, we want to ensure our 7th graders keep that stress at bay.

Here are some ways to help with that:

• Know what tasks your child is undertaking – no surprises, no last minute scrambles to add things to the mix. Decide on the tests and auditions to pursue

• Know which schools your child is applying to – now is the perfect time to make a list and gather intel about the schools you are targeting. A lot can be learned about schools from the comforts of home.

• Plan your next steps – should you reach out to a few private schools now to show interest? Should you begin gathering / creating parts of the admissions or visual arts portfolio that schools would like to see?

Here are a few examples of tasks your child can work on now, to get them out of the way before the admissions season ramps up in the fall: 

• If your child plans on applying to a visual arts program, it's a great time to have them work on their portfolio.

• If your child plans to audition for an arts, dance, theater, or music program, this is an excellent time to encourage them to think about their plan and preparation for their audition

• Beacon essay prompts are online all year long. There's no better time for your child to start brainstorming on these now if they're interested in applying. 

• Additionally, it's a great time to begin collecting and organizing a 'Student Work Sample' for Beacon and other HS's that may require them

These are just a few ideas we’re sharing with parents right now. Please feel free to reach out to us if you’d like to discuss high school admissions . We’re here to help.

City Smarts Electives: Introduction to Dramatic Writing

Tuesdays: 4 - 5 PM

Instructor: Matthew Gasda

Dramatic writing comes naturally to young people, who are at home with imaginary characters and situations. Often, all that stands between young people and becoming full-fledged ‘content creators’ is a little bit of formal training, guidance, and confidence. The aim of this class is to tap into the natural reserve of observations and ideas that all children and teenagers have, and empower them to transform that raw material into dramatic, scripted material. We will read plays, watch scenes, start discussions, and most importantly, workshop their writing. At the end of the class, polished student work will be read by real New York actors!

Course Objectives

• How to format a play or film script

• How to offer and receive constructive criticism

• How to draft, edit, revise

• How to write for actors

Materials

• One month subscription to WriterDuet

Course Policies

• students who miss a class can still submit work to be workshopped

• students are expected to show respect for other student work

Brief Schedule

• Week 1

  • Introductions

  • Warm up games

  • Review formatting dramatic writing & how to use WriterDuet Software

  • Brainstorm project ideas

  • HW: Outline your scene

• Week 2

  • Read a monologue from Hamlet

    • Analyze figurative language

      • Big question: how does language convey character?

  • Share outlines

    • Big question: how do we provide constructive criticism?

  • HW: 

    • Write a monologue

    • Watch interview with director Peter Brook

• Week 3

  • Read snippet from Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot

    • Big question: how does minimalistic dialogue convey big ideas?

  • Share monologues

    • Big question: what can we cut?

      • Implicit idea: good writers know when to take away and when to add.

  • HW

    • listen to monologue from Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape on YouTube

    • start to write dialogue!

      • send Matt your work in progress for mid-week feedback

• Week 4

  • All about student work!

    • Everyone’s shares their developing scenes

  • HW

    • Finish your scenes!

      • Send to Matt midweek for feedback

• Week 5: We’re joined by actors! Who will read completed original student work of 5-15 pages.

Mock testing in the age of learn-from-home.

Why Mock Testing – We’re big believers in mock testing. For the past few years, we’ve operated our own mock testing classroom in Brooklyn, where students come to build test endurance, overcome test-day obstacles, and prove their mettle in a simulated setting. Our mock exam service is about test preparedness. It provides us with valuable feedback about how a student tests, and is something we rely on throughout a student’s prep schedule for insights into fine tuning.

Our Concerns About At-Home Testing – Traditionally, we have been skeptical of at-home testing for a few reasons: 1. home is a safe environment–far more comfortable than the unfamiliar classrooms where standardized tests are proctored. 2. home is full of distractions, so it’s difficult to achieve a true simulated test experience. Now that most of us are–for the time being at least–cooped up at home, however, we must reconsider the mock test experience.

Adapting Mock Testing For Our New Normal – It’s possible that our mock exams will be impacted for the rest of the spring. As a result, we are moving our mock testing program to a virtual format that will–hopefully–address our concerns. At-home mock test-takers will log into Zoom on Sunday morning and prepare to take a test (that we have provided either by email or regular mail). Our proctor will give directions, time test-takers, and ensure a scholarly environment online.

It’s not ideal to have students testing at home, but it is a way for them to maintain some structure in their prep schedules. All this to say, if you do want your child to take a mock exam this spring, I want you to know that May and June dates will not be cancelled. In the event that in-person services have not resumed, we will simply conduct these mock test dates online.

11th Grade Parents: So your child's ACT/SAT date was cancelled. Now what?

So far, we’ve heard that the April 4th SAT and the May 2nd SAT have been canceled. This disrupts a lot of people’s prep schedules, and it’s clearly not the best case scenario. Nor is it one we’ve experienced before - even when there’s a blizzard or a hurricane, test dates aren’t cancelled nationally, and usually are made up within two to three weeks. This is a much more challenging situation for our students looking to test for the first time, or trying to get one more score increase in before they shift their focus to other aspects of the admissions process.

Adjusting Schedule

Parents are able to reschedule for free to the June 6th SAT and the June 13th ACT, and we recommend doing that as soon as possible. We are also recommending students sign up for the July ACT and August SAT, given the uncertainty around rescheduled dates.

Breathing Room

For many students, slowing down the school year–giving them some breathing room between finals, APs, and standardized tests–may turn out to be a blessing. However, we don’t want our students stretching their testing period into the fall unless forces outside our control demand it.

Implications For College Admissions

With students nation-wide facing test-cancellations, colleges will need to adjust their criteria for next-year’s class. In recent days, a slew of top-tier universities (including Tufts and Boston University) have announced plans to go test optional for 2020-2021 applicants. Meanwhile, MIT has dropped its Subject Test (SATII) requirement, which may signal the start of a broader trend among highly selective colleges.

Long story short: we believe that test scores are likely to be de-emphasized across the board for our current class of 10th and 11th graders.

Let’s Strategize
Please always feel free to contact us to discuss changes in test prep schedules and how to maximize the time we have between now and college admissions deadlines in the fall. We are, as always, here to help you strategize.